Friday, May 13, 2016

Weston Exhibit at Scott Nichols

Edward Weston, Pepper No. 30

Hey everyone - I'm getting back into film photography and home developing after a long break. One of the things I wanted to make sure I add back into my regular rotation is gallery visits. And this was one I couldn't pass up. Last week I went downtown to see an exhibit of original Weston prints at my favorite gallery in San Francisco - Scott Nichols Gallery at 49 Geary.

Scott put together a unique exhibit of multi-generational Weston talent - Edward and Brett of course, but also amazingly talented Cole, Kay, Cara, Kim, and Zach. It was extremely inspiring. The cherry on top of the exhibit was seeing not only original prints of Pepper No 30 and Nude (Charis) Santa Monica, but side by side prints by Edward and Brett of the same negatives such as Floating Nude, 1939. The old, yellowed, faded original and the 1970s era black and white print by Brett, crisp and clear as if it were taken yesterday. Just fascinating.

Also as I tend to do, I start at the 5th floor and work my way down, taking in Robert Koch, Fraenkel, and other galleries. Always a treat. Koch, another one of my favorite photography galleries, had an exhibit of talented and whimsical Kenneth Josephson prints, also inspiring. Sad to say that much of that building has become dot coms and booksellers instead of galleries. Honestly, I don't have anything against antiquarian books, but my gallery adventures are much shorter now than they used to be.